Decorative windows including contoured and textured glass have long been used as decorative architectural elements. Such windows are highly desirable as wall windows, door windows, side lights and the like. Such windows are also used in commercial applications for decorative purposes and to form portions of partitions.
Traditionally decorative architectural windows have been made from relatively thick plate glass. Various sorts of grooves and other contours are ground into the glass and may be polished. The glass may be textured using sandblasting, acid etching, glue chipping (i.e., wherein adhesive is applied to a sandblasted surface and stripped to create a prescribed pattern on the glass) or other desired surface treatment. Traditional decorative windows have also been made as composites of a number of glass panels having deeply beveled edges joined by lead strips or caming.
A principle disadvantage of windows of this kind is their cost. A window of moderate size and complexity may easily cost over one thousand dollars, due particularly to the large amount of skilled labor necessary in its production. Furthermore, windows of this type have disadvantages associated with the mechanical and thermal properties of the glass. The glass may have low impact resistance, a particular problem in the case of windows having deep cuts with sharp internal corners. Glass windows having only a single layer of thickness may also present an undesirably high rate of heat transfer, resulting in increased heating and cooling costs. Also, decorative windows formed as composites of multiple glass panels cannot be used in many architectural applications because building codes require the use of safety glass windows in entry doors and load bearing walls.